The Secret Life of Blythe

21. Leo

"What the hell Gia! You've got some explaining to do!"
"I'll tell you everything Leo, just please make it all go away!" She cries in to the phone.
I've heard enough from her to last me a lifetime as I throw my phone on the seat, anger coursing through my body once again, because of this woman.

To top off my bad mood I couldn't get a seat other than in coach, six hours cramped up in a flying tin can is my idea of hell. Why didn't I just say no? If it was her that had asked me and not Mattia I would have told her to sort it herself. Why have I just put them before my family again? Why do I feel so loyal?  Because of a family tradition upheld by my father who isn't even here anymore? I know he won't be looking down and cursing me for putting my family first, he's probably gonna haunt me for what I've been doing to fuck everything up.  He always said she was a troubled little girl.  I close my eyes and think of my wife, snuggled up in her little nest. I'm obsessed with her, I always have been and I can already feel myself getting twitchy having to leave her yet again.  She seemed to understand this trip far better than even I do considering the fact that I'm going back to help the person that's caused us so much pain.

I land late in to the evening and grab a cab heading straight for the penthouse.  Gia sounds even more hysterical over the phone this time when I tell her I'm on my way over the bridge.  This is the last time I help her.  I told Mattia the same as soon as I landed, after this I don't even want to be part of his legal expertise anymore.  I've told him that I'm not sure if I even enjoy this line of work anymore.  It doesn't excite me like it used to.  I wonder if I can go into cyber security with my wife.  I chuckle to myself at her secret geekiness.  It made me hot and bothered listening to her tech speak.  I'll have to tell him it's friends only if we're to have any sort of relationship in the future.  He says we're family and if that's the case he'll have to come and visit us in Cali because I can't see myself coming back to New York again.

I ride up the elevator and when I reach the penthouse door she throws it open and jumps in to my arms before I can even reach the handle.  Why does it feel so normal when she does this, like we're kids again? I let her cling to me as I walk her to the kitchen island, dropping my bag along the way.  I place her down on the bar stool and poor us both a glass of whiskey. 
"Gia, have you slept since finding the email?"
She raises her head and shakes it side to side, she looks like she's dead on her feet. 
I shake my head back at her, annoyed that she falls apart at the first hurdle and expects me to make it all go away. It's what I've always done for her and even now I still run to her aid, all be it for Mattia, but she still benefits.

"I'll run you a bath, you lay in said bath while I make you something to eat and afterwards you're gonna get in to bed and sleep.  In the morning I"ll wake you and I want to know everything! Are we clear?"
"Yes Leo" she hiccups through a sob.
I make her some soup whilst she's bathing and I call Blythe.  I tell her that I'll be dealing with the Gia fallout tomorrow. She suggests I do it tonight. I contemplate it but Gia's dead on her feet and it's late. She doesn't seem chatty after that, she seems a little distracted so I tell her how much I love her and promise to call her tomorrow. 
"Don't let me down this time Leo"
I close my eyes wishing I was at home holding her close to me.
"Good night sweetheart, I love you so much" I say.
"Good night" she says before the line goes dead. I know she still loves me and I understand why she doesn't want to say it back to me but it hurts that I've lost the right to hear her affection toward me.

Gia pads out in a silk kimono a little later, looking much better than she did earlier. 
"You ok?" I ask
"I fuck everything up Leo! I'm not a good person, things are catching up with me now" she sighs
I frown at her words wondering if I even want to know.  I decide that this conversation will be better in the morning once we've both had a good nights sleep. 
She eats the soup I've made her as I sip on my whiskey. 
"Will you hold me tonight Leo? I just want to feel safe in your arms"
I puff out some air, I haven't the strength to even argue with her. 
"Yeah, no worries Gia, fully clothed through!" I add as an after thought. 
I just want to sleep myself.  It seems surreal being back in the apartment, I thought I'd seen the last of it.  I switch off the light in the kitchen, the only light remaining is the ambience from the long flickering flames in the fireplace and the twinkling of the New York skyline in the distance.  I place my glass of whiskey on the coffee table by the fire. I expect Gia to pad off to bed but she joins me on the sofa, the bottle of whiskey in her hand and another tumbler. If she wants a night cap too, who am I to judge?